Tourists and expats herded into Spanish airports as lockdown began

Just before the lockdown began, social distancing was the last thing on tourists’ and expats’ minds at Malaga Airport’s security gates.

Huge numbers of tourists as well as expats had been dumped at the airport by their hotels as Spain went public with its lockdown strategy, with notices informing guests of the government’s ban coinciding with airlines’ plans to return passengers to their home countries.
Given that most of those in the huge queues were either furious or terrified, advising unwilling passengers to conform to social distancing perhaps wasn’t the best idea.

Local media was treated to a field day, during which those either fleeing Spain or being forced out against their will were herded back and forth like cattle, shouted at by the airport’s security police and generally kept in the dark regarding their next moves. The two-week lockdown is now making life difficult for the remaining hundreds of thousands of expats, second home owners and English teachers as well as for the remaining tourists now being rounded up and placed in the few hotels still open.

Last weekend, similar scenes were seen at Tenerife’s airport on Sunday, with crowds of visitors being contained in small spaces awaiting flights back to the home country. The favourite holiday island’s lockdown began just after Malaga’s, with tourists being rounded up, dumped at the airport and forced to ignore the ‘social distancing’ recommendation. At the same time, police patrolled Spain’s streets seeking out those brave enough to breach the strict terms of the lockdown.